Sound-record.



A. M. AYLSWORTH @SAVINGS INVESTMENT AND TRUST COMPANY, EXECVUTORS.

SOUND RECORD.

APPLucATloN FILED APR. 9, 1917. Y 1,283,450 u I v 5,

Savings Investment 'rast C0.

TED STATE-PAT N. AYLSWORTH, oEEAST oRANeE, NEW JERSEY, AND SAVINGS INVESTMENT AND, TRUST COMEANY, or EAST oRANqE, ExEcUToRS; SAID JONAS W. AYLSWORTH" ASSISNOREY MESNE ASSIciNELENjTS,A To NEW JERSEY rATENT'coMPANY, or WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, A coRPoR-ATION E NEW JERSEY.

JoNAS W. AYLSWORTH, EECEASED, LATE or EAST oRANciE, NEW JERSEY, EY ADELAIDE SoUND-RECORD.- v

Specification of Let/ eers Patent.

"originiappncation iiieamrch s, 1911, seiiailNp. 613,114.' Divided and this application inea April 9, 1917.

' Serial No.- 160,694.

` To .all whom it may concern:

1,020,593 and 1,046,187 have been granted dient, such as one of those described in my 80i respectively. Hard phenolic condensation applications Serial Nos. 496,060 and 604,982. products are diliicult to mold by the method Such products are described in my appliof hardening in the mold, and they require' cation Serial4 No. 604,982 and are there considerable time for the operation. The termed hot plastic condensation products,

present invention seeks to roduce a phonothat, is, products which in their final state 85 graph record comprising t e valuable -propwill soften suficiently by heat to readily erties of such products Without the difitake an impression. The preferred compoculties heretofore encountered. In a 'prel sition for the surface layer is as follows vious application Serial No. 543,236, filed Condensation product--lOO parts by 40 February 11, 1910, 4upon which United Weight. 90 States Patent No. 1,146,388 has been grant-ed, i Solid solvent-15 to 40 arts by Weight.

a m| `tlf dA is described of formingthe sound Wood Hour or cotton flocks- 15 to 30 recordiafter the material has been hardened, parts by weight. l in whichcase the' composition is designed While, however, I prefer to use the above to be somewhat plastic when hot. The prescomposition various other hard substances 95 ent invention is animprovement over the Such as Celluloid, cellulose acetate, and method therein disclosed in several imporcasein may be used and fall within the scope tant particulars. In pressing a substance ofy my invention. which-is plasticwhen hot, unless a high de- The record is made by taki-ng two such 6o grec of plasticity is lobtainable in the com.- surface layers or veneers, which have been 100 Be it known that ADELAIDE M. 'A1-'Ls- WORTH, a citizen ofthe United States, and 'al resident of East Orange, in the county of Essex and. State of New Jersey, and SAV- INGS INVESTMENT AND TRUST COMPANY, a corporation of the State of New Jersey, .hav-

' lng its principal place of business at East Orange, in the county of Essex and State 'of New Jersey, the executors of the last will and testament of JONAS W. AYLswoRTH, deceased, late a-citizen of the United States,

residing at East Orange, Essex county, New

Jersey, and maker of a certain new and useful Invention in Sound-Records, state that the following is adescription of said invention. v

This application is a division of a pending application of said Jonas W. Aylsworth,

which United States Patents Nos. "1,102,630,

' not compensatedl for, `record 1n which the impressions arel not per vthickness;lt'iet'v'veen the record face" and the' backnwhich causes an excessiyepressure in the high spots and a deficiency of pressure 1n the low* spots and, where the material is not sufliciently plastic, this irregularity is and the result -is a fectly taken all over. To overcome this, excessively high hydraulic pressures are re- Patented Nov. 5,' 1918. i

which may be only in.

quired, which are objectionable on account of thelr tendency to spoil the record surface and dlstort the mold, as well as being expensive 'because of the equipment required condensation products of phenol and formaldehyde or other substances containing the methylene radical, 'which products also contain a plasticity or solid solvent ingre- 20 Serial No. 613,114, filed March 8, 1911, and when such pressures are used. 70V entitled4 Method of making phonograph The present invention in its preferred emrecords. bodiment is accomplished by making a sur- The object of the present'invention is to face layer of a condensation product on a produce a phonographic record having a thin sheet of fabric, such as muslin or paper.

25 surface layer of extremely hard material, This surface layer is preferably made of previously fully hardened, inserting be-,

-the blank 1are pressed in a heated mold where they are united and formed. into a record of desired shape, the record impression being preferably pressed into the surface of the veneer at the same time.

Compositions for the blank may bev the ordinary shellac mixtures with wood pulp a loading material, or compositions compris-y ing woodv pulp or other filling agents and a fusible condensation product such as the well known shellac substitutes, and the sab which l term phenol resin in In .f tions Serial Nos. 496,060 and 541,."1' which Unitedv States Patents Nos.. Ll and 1,146,387 have been granted respectively.

'lhis blank when heated becomes suiiiciently lastic to flow under a moderate pressure o say 600 to 1,500 pounds to the square inch, and forms a backing which is yielding under the action of heat and pressure, so as to form a 'hydraulic equalizer of the applied pressure, so that no matterhow uneven or irregular the mold surfaces may be, the pressure is distributed evenly on the veneer surfaces. 'lhe difference between the veneer and the blank o1' center portion of the record is that the veneer becomes simply softened by heat so it may be embossed readily, but does not have sufficient flowing qualities to enable it to be successfully used alone, excepting under special conditions; whereas, the internal part or blank is plastic when heated, and will flow readily, hardens by cooling, may be made plastic again by heating any number of times and will not harden.

by heating.

The function of the fabric in the surface layer is to reinforce the same so that the layers or veneers may be readily handled without breaking, andso that the same'may not break because of the flowing action of the internal blank while pressing. llt also contributes enormously to the strength of the finished product.

The character of the fabric is important on account of the tendency to form cracks in the surface if the fabric is too stili and unyielding and has a different coefficient of expansion and contraction from the material of the surface. Materials having such difference in coefficient of expansion may 'be used if the fabric is so chosen as to be yielding as a whole. Loosel woven cotton cloth, such as muslin, is pre erable. Loose paper fabric such as filtering paper or Japanese rice paper may also be used, but they do not contribute so much to the strength. of the product, as the cotton fabric. l have also found that when a condensation product is 65 coated by rolling or pressing onto the cotton assenso fabric in thin layers, Athe air is entirely reand. the surface veneers in position to be molded;

Fig. 2 represents a similar view, showing the same parts in the mold after the pressure has been applied; and

Figs. L5 and l represent central vertical y sections of finished records of different thicknesses.

4 ln all the views corresponding parts are EdesignatedJ by the same reference numerals.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the central blank, Q. and 3 the surface veneers, and 4 and 5 the fabric on which the veneers are coated. The mold shown herein is what is termed a flash mold, that is, a mold in` which the excess material is forced out between the opposing parts 6 and i' of the mold, as shown-at 8 in Fig. 2, when these parts are brought together in regulating the thickness of the product. The parts 6 and 7 of the mold are formed with matrices 6 and 7 respectively, so that the record impressions are formed in the veneer simultaneously With the formation of the record. As shown in Fig. l, the plastic blank l is of less diameter than the finished record so that in molding the record it will readily flow and fill the inner cavity between the veneer surfaces.

When it is desired t0 make a very thin disk record the blank is made thin, but when the pressure applied to the mold is completed, the excess of the inner material will e mostly squeezed out, leaving simply two veneer surfaces stuck together by the composition of the blank, as shown in Fig. 4. When a cylindrical record is formed, the process is exactly similar, except that the veneer and the blank are made in' cylindrical form; but with a cylindrical record it is not necessary to have the veneer upon both inside and outside surfaces, whereas on disk records it is necessary to put the veneer on both sides to prevent warping.

The present 1nvention-is applicable to all kinds of phonograph records and other objects which it is desired to mold with a veneer surface.

Suitable compositions for the blank are wood flour, 50 to 100 parts; fusible condensation product, shellac or shellac substitute, colophonylf, or other binding gum, 50 to 100 parts. he composition of the blank may be adjusted and may be more or less plasticto suit the requirements of the particular veneer used. For instance, a veneer 130 which requires a higher pressure form the impression will require a stiffer' plastic blank, and one which will take the" impression readily at a lower pressure will require a blank which is more plastic. y'

In forming a veneer of an infusible phenolic condensation product, the cloth or fabric is placed on a sheet of polished metal, such as tin plate, and a blank of the unhardened condensation product is placed on the same and anotherpiece of polished metal placed on top of this. Then the same is submitted to heat between two hot plates and a moderate pressure a plied after the material has softened su cientlylto iow, whereby it is evenly distributed through and on the muslin, after which a higher temperature is given to the same to harden it by chemical action into its inal'non-fusible hard state,\care being taken that the reaction temperature is not reached before the material has been properly distributed over the surface of the muslin. With some forms of condensation products, Asuch as those described by Baekeland and. others, this final hardening should be done under pressure. When the compositions referred to in applications Serial Nos. i,982,- 496,060 and 543,238 are used, it is notl necessary to. maintain pressure during the last Vstage of the operation, or the hardening reaction. The pressure may be released, and thehardening may be done between the same hot plates which are used in distributing, or the coated muslin placed between the two metal sheets may be removed and placed in an oven, and there hardened at the minimum reaction temperature A,until it becomes infu'sible; and then to complete the hardening, the temperature may be raised `considerably above the reaction temperature, which hastens the operation. After cooling, the metal sheets are readily detached. Another method of form- A ing the veneer is to coat themuslin on calender rolls, similar to the method of coating rubber on fabrics, hardening the same on heated drums or in ovens, and subsequently punching out the veneer blanks from these coated sheets.

The reaction temperature for the above mentioned composition lies between 200 and 250 degrees F., varying somewhat with the nature of the composition used.

One of the fundamental principles contributing to the success of the present invention lies in having a yielding pressure dis- Y tributing internal part and a hard surface layer. It is obvious that other materials than those mentioned might be used for both the surface layer and'for the internal part.

The plastic blank maybe pressed to the full size of the record or other object, or as stated above, it may be less than the full size, so that in the final operation it will flow and lentirely lill the inner cavity bevin the application, Serial No. 618,114, of

tween the veneer surfaces. When a very thin disk record is made, the internal material is preferablymade heavy by loading with heavy powders, such as metal powders, barium sulfate, etc. This is particularly desirable where the form of cut on the record is what .is known as the up and' down cut, which prevents the thin record from vibrating to4 such 'an extent as to weaken the volume of sound produced. Or the inner part may be leader tinfoil.

While I have mentioned certain referred materials for the various parts o my improved record, various other materials may be used; and my invention is limited only as defined b the appended claims. v

This app ication is limited to the improved article of manufacture herein described, the process described being claimed which this application is a division.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows 1. An article of manufacture comprising a 90. surface layer of hard material capable of softening slightly when heated, a backing for said surface layer composed of material whichl is of greater4 plasticity when heated than said surface layer. and a layer of fabric intermediate said backing and surface layer,

substantially as described.

2. An article of manufacture comprising a surface layer of hardened phenolic condensation product capable of softening slightly when heated, a backing therefor composed of material which is Vof greater plasticity than said surface layer and a layer of fabric intermediate said backing and surface layer, substantially as described.

3, An article of manufacture comprising a center ofgla material plastic when hot and hard when cold, two thin surface layers composed of'a hard infusible substance less plastic than said center, and adapted to be- 11a come sufficiently softened when heated to receive an impression from amatrix by pressure and a layer of fabric intermediate said center and each of said surface layers, sub# stantially as described.

4. An article of manufacture comprising a surface layer ofa final hardened phenolic condensation product adapted Hto become suiiiciently softened when heated to receive an impression from a matrix by pressure, a 120 backing therefor of a material plastic when hot and hard when cold and a layer of fabric intermediate said backing and-surface layer, v substantially as described.

5. An article of manufacture comprising f'125 a center of a material plastic when hot and hard when cold, two thin surface layers comsion from a matrix by pressure and a layer of fabric intermediate said center and each of said surface layers, substantially as described.

6. An article of manufacture comprising a surface layer of hardened phenolic condensation product capable of softening slightly When heated to receive an impression, a backing therefor and a sheet of fabric interposed between said backing and surface layer, substantially as described.

7 Anarticle of manufacture comprising a hard surface layer capable of softening slightlyf when heated, a backing therefor composed of a material more plastic when 15 This specification signed this 3rd day of 2G Api-i1, 1917.

` ADELAIDE M. AYLSWOR'IH. SAVINGS INVESTMENT AND TRUST COMPANY, By DAVID BINGHAM,

President,

Executors o the last will and testament of Jonas W.

Aylswort deceased. 

